Hola Friends!  I love spaghetti with meat sauce.  Always have.   I make mine with brown sugar so it is a little bit sweet and uses a base of Prego.  Prego is one of the cheapest spaghetti sauces out there and I love it (with a few additions). On a side note, I am not sure why I do this and it is totally dorky, but I always say “She is prego-ragu”, if someone is pregnant.  Weird, but true.

 Anyways,  I used to think my recipe was the best – until I tried this one at our good family friends, Debbi and Steve’s house.  Debbi is a wonderful cook - not to mention a great singer, dancer and hula hooper .  She is the appetizer queen (I am hoping she will send me some of those recipes soon)!  Her and Steve very graciously organized my dad’s memorial reception and hosted an after party at their house…where they served this amazing chicken and Italian sausage pasta sauce.  Which is actually a recipe of Debbi’s friend Leslie.  As soon as I ate the first bit, I asked for the recipe.  I only made a few changes, which is really strange for me.  It is fantastic and super simple to make for a crowd.  I served mine with ravioli, but you could use your favorite pasta.  Caesar salad recipe will be posted next. 

 Italian Sausage and Chicken Pasta Sauce

Printable recipe here

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 Tablespoon butter

1 White onion chopped

10 Large mushrooms sliced

3 Garlic Cloves minced

5 Links of uncooked (spicy or mild)Turkey Italian sausage cut into ½ inch pieces

4 Skinless Boneless Chicken breasts cubed (sausage and chicken is easier to cut if it is a little bit frozen

16 oz can diced tomatoes

1 Quart Prego Spaghetti sauce

1 T. Italian Seasoning

¼  cup dried basil

¼ cup dried oregano

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar

6-8 servings of your favorite pasta

In a large stockpot, saute onion and mushroom in the olive oil and butter until soft and onions are translucent.  Add garlic and sauté one minute more. 

Add the chicken and sausage pieces and cook over med- low heat until the meat is browned and cooked through.

  Add the tomatoes, sauce, seasonings, brown sugar and vinegar. 

Stir well.  Simmer over low heat for at least 20 minutes up to an hour stirring occasionally.  You shouldn’t need to season with salt because the sausage has quite a bit of salt already.

Use over cheese ravioli or your favorite pasta.  Sprinkle with parmesan and enjoy.

Love,

Lindzee

 

Jav’s 28^thbirthday was yesterday and we had a few friends over to celebrate.  He keeps thinking he is 29 and not 28, which makes me laugh since I am 29.  I keep trying to convince him that he is actually 29 – it seems to be working.  Since his favorite possession in the whole wide world (with the exception of his MacBook Pro) is his IPhone, I thought I would try and make an IPhone cake.  Well, I tried:

He was really happy when he saw it!  And here are his many faces from the night:

Other pics from the night.

Mavie and Katie had a great time too:

Too much fun:

Disclaimer: I don’t really give my dog alcohol.  Only chocolate. He likes chocolate. 

When Jav was in high school he worked a local restaurant called Smoky Mountain Pizza.  He is obsessed with their Teriyaki Chicken Fettuccine and asked me to make it for him for his birthday.  After a few test runs, I think I finally succeeded.  It was pretty darn good.

Happy 29^thJav!! The first of many to come .

On a side note – here is a link on how to pound meat from Chef Doughty at Boise State Radio.  It had me in hysterics.  http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/idaho/local-idaho-885382.mp3

Creamy Teriyaki Chicken Fettuccine
Printable recipe here

 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
2lbs Chicken Breast Cut into bite size pieces (cutting semi-frozen is easiest)
2-3 Cups Assorted Fresh Veggies Chopped (I used broccoli, zucchini, mushrooms and sugar snap peas)
6-7 Servings Cooked Fettuccini

Sauce
3 Tablespoons Butter
3 Tablespoons Flour
2 Cloves Garlic Minced
2 Cups Half and Half (I bet it would work with 2% milk, but don’t hold me to it.  If you try it let me know)
1 Cup Freshly Grated Parmesan
1 Cup Soy Vay Veri VeriTeriyaki Sauce (Must be this brand. Mmm. So good.)

Heat olive oil in a medium skillet and cook chicken breast pieces until browned and cooked through.  Add veggies and ¼ cup of water and cook 5 minutes more on medium. Set aside.

In a medium stockpot melt butter with garlic over medium heat. 

Add flour and whisk constantly for two minutes, but do not let the flour brown.  Like you would a roux for an alfredo sauce. 

Slowly whisk in milk and bring slowly to a boil while stirring constantly. 

This mixture will thicken up after about 5 minutes of cooking.  Once thick, slowly whisk in parmesan and teriyaki sauce. 

 Let cook for two minutes more while stirring and pour over cooked chicken and veggies in the skillet. (this was a test run and I used different veggies).

 Set heat to low and stir until warmed through.  No need to season, there should be plenty of salt from the sauce. Serve over fettuccini.

Enjoy!

Love,

Lindzee

Sunday night, Katie and I had some friends over for din din – Michelle and Regan.  Aren’t they cute?

And Jav and Katie were there too…

After assessing my current food stock, I had some frozen shrimp, cheap vodka, leftover wine, cheese and pasta. Typical. 

 I decided to try a little experiment and make some shrimp stuffed pasta shells with tomato basil vodka sauce.  I love creamy basil vodka tomato goodness and paired with shrimp made it that much better.  They turned out really well!

Shrimp Stuffed Shells with Tomato Basil Vodka Sauce

Filling:

1 Box uncooked large pasta shells

2 Pounds of raw shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails removed

1 Shallot chopped

1 Garlic cloves chopped

1 Tablespoon olive oil

½ Cup Dry White Wine

Salt and Pepper

1.5 Cups Ricotta Cheese Part Skim

1 Tablespoon chopped basil

¼ Cup Shredded Parmesan

Boil pasta shells in salted water until partly tender but still a little firm.  About 7-8 minutes.  Drain and immediately separate shells to a greased baking sheet to prevent sticking together.  Set aside to cool.

Chop shrimp into bite size pieces. 

 Sauté shallot and garlic cloves in the olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. 

 Add wine and shrimp. Cook until pink.  Don’t overcook though.

 Drain remaining liquid and combine shrimp, ricotta, basil, parmesan and salt and pepper. 

Set aside.  Make the sauce.

 Vodka Sauce:                              

1 Tablespoon butter

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 Shallot chopped

2 Garlic cloves chopped

½ Cup Vodka (you can use the cheap here. No Grey Goose allowed)

16 oz Whole peeled tomatoes in juice (blended up in blender)

½ Cup Heavy Whipping Cream

4 Tablespoons basil chopped

Salt and Pepper to taste

¼ Shredded Parmesan

Preheat over to 350 degrees.

Melt butter and olive oil over medium heat in a medium sauté pan.

Add shallots and garlic and cook about 2 minutes.  Add vodka and cook 1 minute more.

Then add tomatoes and cook for about 10 minutes.  Add whipping cream and basil and cook for 1 minute more.  Season to taste.

Cover the bottom of a large baking dish with a thin layer of sauce. 

Stuff each shell with about 2 Teaspoons of shrimp filling until full.  Stack in baking dish in a single layer and cover with remaining sauce and sprinkle with parmesan.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until warm and bubbly.  Sprinkle with any remaining basil.

Love,

Lindzee